Hear The Sound
by meirisuuu
Summary: Musa and Riven break up, resulting in Riven's departure and leaving Musa with a burden she couldn't handle. Secrets kept, words left unsaid, what should have been instead. Years later, Riven comes back, a changed man, but things have changed as well. Musa is gone, strange children left in her stead. Where is she? Who are they? Can he find out what's happening, before it's too late?
1. hear the sound

**A/N: instead of updating my dozens of unfinished stories, I decided to make a new one. Great. Technically a next-gen fic, because they're irresistible to me. But mostly a Musa and Riven fic, added with a dash of mystery and angst.**

 **This technically takes place in season 6, where you know, they break up for real, but I really couldn't have been bothered to rewatch and rewrite the scene, so I made my own.**

 **Warning: Lots of swearing, 'cause I like swearing. I think it does a good job emphasizing emotions sometimes, at least, for some people. Also, because Riven.**

* * *

 **Hear The Sound**

Longer Summary: Everyone knew it would happen eventually. Musa and Riven finally break up, resulting in Riven's departure to be a better person and leaving Musa with responsibilities she couldn't handle on her own.

Secrets kept, sacrifices made, words left unsaid, the fate of their future weighed.

Years later, Riven comes back, a changed man, yet his feelings for her never faltered. But things back home have changed as well, some good, some bad. Other than his friends' eternal struggles in their marriage and parenthood, Musa is gone, strange yet oddly familiar children left in her stead. Where is she? Who are they? Can he find out what's happening, before it's too late?

(...too long? Reveals too much? I really, really don't like making summaries.)

* * *

 _Hear the sound, as your heart falls to the floor  
It's a wonder that you'll need it anymore._

 _-Mayday Parade_

* * *

"I'm sorry, Musa,"

It was just the two of them, alone. The other had left to do...whatever (thank god) and they felt that it's about time to talk, about everything, about them, just the two of them, without someone comparing them to tragic couples in literature or pulling out useless statistics. His fists were clenched by his side and his eyes were cast down, looking at the ground with such scrutiny, as if the damn thing did something wrong. But it didn't. He knew that and she knew that, hell, even the ground knew that. It's just that it was better to look at pebbles on the ground than the person in front of him, the person whom he loved, the person whom he failed.

She didn't say anything, instead preferring to look up. The sun was about to set, slowly hiding behind the pink castle-like school that is Alfea. The skies were painted with hues of orange and pink, and she thought it looked absolutely beautiful.

"As a Specialist and your boyfriend, it was my duty to protect you, but..." He didn't know what to say, and he hated himself for it. He wanted to punch himself so badly, jump off the nearest cliff, stab himself. _You're a fucking failure. You fucking weakling. Say something!_ "But...I let you down, I'm sorry. What a shitty boyfriend I am, huh?"

She tore her eyes off of the sky and finally looked at him. "You shouldn't be too harsh on yourself..." she trailed off, looking at him carefully. He looked genuinely ashamed, his face and posture screaming nothing but regret and self-loathing. "But...yeah, you haven't been the best boyfriend lately...or a great person, in general..." she trailed off, recalling the times he treated the guys badly.

"I know, I know..." He sighed deeply, finally looking at her. "And I've been thinking lately..." and by thinking lately, it's been something he had been considering since he graduated Red Fountain.

She raised a brow, curiosity in her eyes.

"Maybe I should just...leave." Leave everything and everyone behind. No strings attached. Go to places of unfamiliarity. If it meant that he won't hurt someone again. If it meant he won't hurt her again. "For good."

Her eyes slowly widened, "Why..."

"I want to be a better person," he said quietly, "someone that can protect the people he cares about. Someone who isn't a piece of shit. And maybe...maybe it'd be better if I leave, go to places, you know? To find myself. To start anew."

After processing it for a few moments, her surprised expression melted into that of a small smile. "That...makes sense." she looked up, "would you come back?"

"I...don't know," he said, shrugging, "maybe, maybe not."

"Oh," she said, "so...this is goodbye, then?"

"I guess so," he looked down, before looking back up, giving her a small smile. "You'll find someone. Someone way, way better than me."

"And you too." With that, he turned and left before the others found out. Left before he could be convinced otherwise. Left before he changed his mind. She watched him leave, that bad boy she'd known since they were teenagers were now prepared to walk on the road to become a man, a better man. She ignored the cracks forming in her heart at losing her first love in favor of hoping the best for him. Because, god, he needed it.

When she returned to their dorm room, her resolve slowly crumbled and as soon as her first tear rolled out, her friends were already there for her. "Sweetie, are you okay?" The soothing voice of her nature-loving friend comforted her a bit. A bit.

At that moment, she laughed and choked on her tears, confusing her friends as they looked at their contradiction of a friend. Heartbroken, but proud, she nodded.

"I'm okay."

* * *

...

The bus left as soon as he got off of it. He adjusted his knapsack as he looked up at the tall skyscrapers and flying vehicles of Magix City, taking a deep breath as he basked in the view of the city filled with past memories. Memories both good and bad, memories he can't forget, even if he tried.

Riven looked around the city and the people hustling and bustling in it, and immediately felt nostalgia hit him like a wind rider. He had been gone for nearly 6 years and yet nothing much had changed, his favorite gym was still there, the GameStart store Timmy would frequent was still there, so was the pizza parlor Bloom would have always drag everyone to. There was even this shady white van still parked outside a daycare center[1].

It was like he never left.

Usually, he would scowl, saying things like how lazy the city would be if it hadn't changed a bit after six years, but instead, he smiled. Glad that he was in a familiar place for once, he was getting sick of unfamiliar and new places, to the point where it all looked the same to him now, so this was nice and refreshing.

Riven walked along the streets of Magix, looking at everything and recalling specific memories. The boutique Stella would always drag Brandon with, the dance studio Layla would always frequent...speaking of which, how have his friends been? He had little to no interest in social media and hadn't had contact with them for six years. The few things he knew from the news and newspapers were that Bloom and Sky were married and now Queen and King of Eraklyon with two darling children, same goes for Stella and Brandon, and Layla and Nex. But for the non-royals, he didn't know. Were Flora and Helia married? Probably. Did Tecna and Timmy have any children? Unlikely.

What about...her?

How was she? What was she up to nowadays? Was she doing okay? How would she feel if she saw him again?

Did...she find someone else?

Something pricked his heart as he thought that, but he shook his head, trying to ward his feelings of jealousy off. If she did find someone else, then good for her. He's happy for her.

But was that really what he felt?

As he was deep in thought, he let his legs guide him to wherever. He didn't really know where he was going until he looked up and his eyes suddenly widened, his heart pounding against his chest as he stood just outside a familiar flower shop.

Helia's flower shop[2].

His curiosity about his friends' whereabouts would be answered, _her_ whereabouts would be answered. His hand found its way to the knob of the shop's entrance, but he hesitated. How would Helia (and possibly Flora) react to him coming back? Would they welcome him back with open arms, or would Helia punch him in the face for not saying goodbye? Would they even be in the shop at all?

He violently shook his hesitant thoughts out of his head, taking a deep breath and turning the knob. _Here goes nothing._

The door immediately rang, signaling his arrival, and immediately he was hit with the pleasant and homey aroma in the shop, just as he expected. He wasn't even technically in the shop yet but he can already hear voices, both familiar and unfamiliar.

"But auntieee, I'm boreeed," a small child's voice, likely belonging to a boy, whined at his 'auntie'. Riven frowned, maybe he was in the wrong place...

"And hungry!" Another boy, probably the same age as the other child, whined. Okay, he was probably in the wrong place, Riven thought as he turned to leave. "Please, momma?"

"Well, okay," a woman's voice relented after some pondering, the sound of coins being given as the children cheered. Riven stopped abruptly. That woman sounds like...! "Be careful, okay?"

Before Riven could react, he saw a head of dark hair run past him and out the shop, "Excuse me, mister!" The boy called out as he continued running. The boy looked to be about five years old, his hair was a familiar black color and reached his chin. His skin was slightly tanned, his eyes a bright green and he wore clothing that reminded Riven of Peter Pan.

"Hey, wait for me!" Another boy called out, running past the previous boy but he didn't acknowledge Riven at all. The boy also looked about five, his short hair was tousled and dark, nearly covering his narrowed blue eyes, unlike the previous boy, his hair looked more like a dark, blackish blue instead of a, well, blackish black. His skin was fair and he wore more modern clothing, like his sleeveless hoodie and expensive-looking sneakers. Riven didn't know why, but the boy...caught him off guard. Like he wasn't supposed to appear.

To his surprise, another child appeared and got out of the shop, this time a little girl and she calmly walked out instead of running. Riven swore it was slow motion when she walked past him and at the door and he felt sharp violet eyes stare at his own. The girl was staring at him intently, as if she was trying to figure something out, before leaving. Riven took a deep breath sharply. The girl looked a lot like the previous boy, so he can safely assume they were twins or at least related. Her hair was dark blue and with a bob-like hairstyle, her skin was pale and she wore simple clothing. Her eyes, though...it...uneased him, to say the least.

He shook his head before he could get any weird ideas as he finally went into the shop.

"Hi! Welcome to-"

The woman couldn't finish her sentence as soon as she spotted the familiar head of magenta hair, instead staring at him in shock.

Riven smiled wryly as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah...I'm back, I guess?"

The woman still couldn't believe what she saw. Perhaps it was a hallucination, told her husband not to order those shady looking flowers, but did he listen? No, of course not. "Helia?"

Another familiar head for Riven popped out from what he assumed to be the storage room, "Yes, my flowe-? Riven?"

Riven gave his old friend the same wry smile, "I guess we have to catch up with each other, huh?"

Flora and Helia looked at one another, wide-eyed. "Definitely."

* * *

 **[1]- one time, there was this white van parked outside our school for days and the teachers and parents started getting worried but it turns out that it belonged to this guy in my class and he couldn't have been bothered to bring it home.**

 **[2]- I heard from the comics that Helia left Red Fountain at some point and opened a flower shop instead, though I'm not entirely sure. If it's true and someone knows the specific issue then I'd appreciate it so much.**

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah, this is meant to be ambiguous, because questions. Who do you think those kids were? Where's Musa? How are the others doing? Is my writing too subtle, should I change it? I'm not sure.**

 **Anyways, the title taken from the Mayday Parade song of the same name, because I love that song. Oh, and I didn't make the cover unfortunately, it's drawn by Suzunosuke I think? I love that photo, and by love I mean it makes me depressed (Hansel and Gretel deserve to be reunited with their mother goddammit!) The story of it is kinda similar to this story too, so yeah.**

 **Updating schedule is uncertain. For now, leave feedback 'cause it encourages me more than anything. Other than, I hope you enjoyed reading.**


	2. like we used to

**A/N: This was supposed to be published earlier this week but for some reason, my laptop's touchpad thing wasn't working so.**

 **Also, thank you for your favorites, follows, and reviews on this story (the reviews especially)! I thought this story would only get like, one follow and one review if I'm lucky, but thank you! Even if I'm not replying to your reviews because I'm a shy little shit, just know that I'm eternally grateful!**

* * *

 _I can feel her breath as she's sleeping next to me,  
Sharing pillows and cold feet.  
She can feel my heart fell asleep to its beat,  
Under blankets and warm sheets._

 _-A Rocket to the Moon_

* * *

 _3 months before_ _ **he**_ _left._

 _The night was peacefully dark and silent, the only light source being the moonlight quietly seeping through the blinds and the distant chirping of crickets was the only thing they could hear and even then it didn't bother them that much. It didn't matter. The tangled sheets barely covering them, the cool evening air against their sweat-covered skin, her head laying on his chest, his arm around her body. Nothing else mattered at the moment. Not the Magic Dimension, not their friends, not whoever is trying to take over the world, not anything, because at that moment, only they mattered._

 _She was absentmindedly drawing whatever on his chest with her finger, and he had his eyes closed, trying to get a shut eye when she looked at him._

 _"Riven?"_

 _He merely grunted, opening one eye to look at her, curious._

 _"What do you think about kids?" Flora had brought up the topic earlier and it garnered...interesting reactions. Most (well, more like half) of them had been ecstatic at the idea, perhaps not right now but someday when they're married and ready to start a family. Bloom dreamed of having perfect, 'darling' children with her prince (now King) charming, Sky. Stella wanted a beautiful, daughter who will accompany her on her shopping trips. Flora didn't really care how her future kids will turn out, so long as they are nice and respect, if not love, nature. On the other hand, Layla really didn't like the idea of children, but she kinda needed to have at least one to continue the royal bloodline. Tecna was very adamant that she doesn't want to have children, and probably never will._

 _But, for her, it's not really something she thought that much of before, so she didn't know, and she was curious what he thought about it._

 _She felt him stiffen, "I don't know," he said, thinking. It wasn't someone he thought that much before either, but he knew that kids annoyed him. "probably not. I'm probably going to traumatize the little shit at some point." He said that in a joking tone, a quiet chuckle coming after._

 _She didn't laugh, and so, silence followed after._

 _He shifted uncomfortably, without disturbing her. "I don't see myself as a dad, to be honest," he whispered, more sincere and honest. "I have a terrible temper, I'm impatient, and I don't know the first thing about taking care of a kid. You know I haven't had the best childhood, Muse."_

 _She continued doodling absentmindedly on his chest. "Still..." she whispered, "if, by chance, I get, you know, pregnant. Would you ditch me then?"_

 _"What? Of course not," he said automatically, "I may be an asshole but I'm not a scummy asshole, like, you know..."_

 _His mother. The woman who had abandoned him at the tender age of six. The root of his trust issues and disdain for the female population (for a while, anyway). She didn't know much about his mother, Riven refused to talk about it, at least, not at the moment, and she respected that. She briefly wondered where the woman was nowadays, if she even remembered her_ son, _if she even had the intention of reconciling with him anytime soon, because honestly, he needed it._

 _He sighed deeply, "Look, Muse, I'm tired. Let's just get some shut eye and talk about it tomorrow, yeah?"_

 _She closed her eyes, sighing as well._

 _"Okay."_

* * *

...

"Tea?"

"Uh, no tha- okay..." Flora didn't wait for a response as she already poured Riven a cup of her famous green tea. Riven smiled awkwardly at her...firm politeness and set the tea down the wooden coffee table as Flora and Helia sat on the sofa right across from him, ready to talk about everything, from what they've been up to, to where _she_ is. He looked around their home, it felt...warm and homey being here, made him feel at ease, at home, for the first time in six years, even if it wasn't his home at all.

After revealing his comeback to his peaceful friends (who are now married, apparently), they told him to wait a while until they closed the shop and then they can have their mini-reunion. So, he walked around town for a bit, booked a room in a hotel, and did whatever until Helia called him with their address and so here they are. Riven had to admit, they've built a nice life for themselves. Their home wasn't some grand mansion, nor was it some small cabin in a secluded forest, it was a fairly large, yet humble looking home, one that a family of six could comfortably live in. With necessities like a garden outdoors and potted plants indoors, beautiful and elaborate paintings hung on the walls as the faint smell of paint lingered, and there was a large backyard outside where the kids could play.

"So, Riven" Helia cleared his throat, "how have you been?"

He internally frowned at the question. Out of all the questions he probably had in mind, Helia chose the most general question. "Eh, okay," he said, he hadn't had the best time of his life these last six years, but he hadn't had the worst time either. It was the most neutral of the neutral. "I've been to many places, met many people, so...it's been okay. You?"

Flora smiled, "Oh, we've been doing great! But, Riven," she paused momentarily, her smile dropping. "-you've missed a lot these past few years..."

"I know...I can tell," he said, looking at the walls nearly covered with photos ranging from wedding photos, how he could've sworn he had never seen people so in love with one another in their special day, to group gatherings, where he can see a small glimpse of what his friends had been up to, to...children, a mini-Helia with his toothless grin at his 1st birthday, Flora holding a pink bundle of joy with her husband by her side. "So, marriage and kids, huh?"

In some photographs, _she_ was there. Some, laughing, others she merely smiled. Though he couldn't help but notice, underneath that smile, was it sadness? Jealousy? Melancholy?

He also noticed some photographs were missing as if it was removed recently, but he didn't bring it up. He also pretended not to notice three small heads with dark hair peeking behind the corner of the room.

"Oh, right," Helia realized, "Ren! Come here for a moment, please, I'd like you to meet an old friend." He turned back to Riven, "He's our eldest. Maylis is on her nap at the moment, so,"

One of the heads came out from the corner, revealing a small boy barely aged six. His thick black hair nearly reached his chin, his eyes were a bright green and his skin was tanned. Despite being his usually quiet parents' son, he actually looked like an outgoing and perhaps a loud kid, but that still didn't stop him from being shy around strangers. Ren looked at Riven, before turning his head to his parents hesitantly. They both nodded, encouraging him.

"Um, hi," Ren spoke, scratching his chin. "I'm Ren."

"Hey, Ren," Riven smiled or at least tried to smile at the boy. "I'm Riven, I used to be your dad's squadmate. We used to fight bad guys together, you know."

It seemed to pique the boy's interest. "Really?" He asked, "you mean you fought with uncle Brandon and uncle Sky and Uncle Timmy and Dad? That's so cool!"

"Yeah," Riven said playfully, trying not to notice the two other children hiding behind the corner. "Did ya know..."

"Cody, Sony, we know you're hiding behind there," Flora called out, without even looking back. "Come here and meet our guest!"

The response was oddly automatic. "No!" It had been the boy who said that, the one that Riven thought looked odd and caught him off guard with his dark blue hair and eyes. He almost looked like...

"Cody..." Helia warned slowly. Ren snickered quietly as the boy, Cody apparently, slumped his shoulders and scowled, before relenting and coming out of the corner to greet the guest. The girl, Sony, followed suit.

"Hi," Cody said quickly and briefly, raising his hand for a brief second to wave before shoving his hand back in his hoodie pocket. Sony merely nodded in his general direction as a way to acknowledge him, but she didn't look at him, and he didn't know why. Is he not that aesthetically pleasing? Cody looked back at Flora and Helia, probably asking if he can go now, but they both gave him a look and he pouted. "I'm Coda, and this is my lil sis, Sonia," Sonia frowned at the 'lil sis' part, "but those names suck so you can call me Cody, and my sis Sony." Sony nodded at this. Riven raised a brow, not much of a talker, this girl.

Cody then looked back at Flora and Helia, who exchanged looks and sighed. "Okay, fine, you kids can go now." Cody's face lit up as he ran out of the room, both Sony and Ren following him to go and play or something.

Now it was just the adults left in the room. Riven absentmindedly tapped his thigh as he thought of things to say, "So, four kids, huh? That must be tough." He found it kind of...absurd, in a way, that his friends could have four kids in a span of five odd years, that's what he preferred to think anyway. That Coda and Sonia were Flora and Helia's kids, not you-know-who's, despite the massive flaw in that logic.

Flora and Helia looked at each other, internally debating with one another. Helia sighed deeply as Flora bit her lip. "Coda and Sonia...are not ours," Flora explained slowly as if she was trying to explain it to a five-year-old. "We're just looking after them...for a friend." She chose her words slowly, trying not to let anything slip.

 _A friend. A friend. A friend. A friend._ Sirens rang in Riven's mind as he stiffened. It's now or never, time to bring up the elephant in the room. "Coda and Sonia..." he said slowly, pressing his lips together, "are they, you know..." he knew what he was hinting at. They knew what he was hinting at. _Are they_ _ **hers**_ _?_

 _Please don't let them be hers. Please dont let them be hers. please don't let them be hers. pleasedontletthembehers._

They decided to not take the bait. "We don't know what you're talking about, Riven," Helia said coolly, shifting uncomfortably. Flora stood up from her seat.

"I think Lissy woke up, I'll go check on her." With that, she left, leaving only to two men in the room. Two men, old allies, old friends.

"You should definitely meet the others, I'm sure they'd be glad to see you again." Helia said, straying from the previous topic.

"You think?" Riven asked hesitantly, leaning back in his seat. Honestly, he was a bit glad they didn't stay on topic. "Surprised? Maybe. Glad? I don't think so," he left, all of a sudden, no warning or goodbyes or anything. If someone had done that to him, he'd be pissed off, and he's sure his friends, though good people, are, even slightly pissed at him.

Helia rolled his eyes, "Sure, the guys still aren't...happy with your sudden departure, same goes with some of the girls, even Flora and I weren't pleased with it, but, you can't hide from them forever. They wanna see you, no matter how unhappy they are with you. You do know we care about you, Riven, even if sometimes it appears that you don't about us."

"I don't know, Helia. I don't wanna get punched in the face, you know how Sky and Brandon get when it comes to friendship and staying together and all that crap," Riven said, half joking as a playful smirk made its way to his lips, trying to keep _her_ out of his mind.

"Oh come on, man up, Riv," Helia told him, a small, playful smile gracing his features. "The kids are having a playdate here later this week and everyone will be here. You should go, see how everyone's up to, yeah?" He gave him a reassuring smile. _You'll be fine._ His smile said.

Riven blinked, before smiling as well.

"Okay."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm not sure how to feel about this chapter. I don't hate it, but I don't like it either. Are the characters OOC? I think so. I also thought I could've been too descriptive, but oh well.**

 **So, the FH household. There's Ren, Coda, Sonia, and Maylis. Oh, that reminds me, I should do a character sheet thing. It's going to be down there somewhere but for now, questions. Who is Coda and Sonia? Who is the friend that Flora and Helia mentioned? What are the others up to? It's kinda obvious, but I'm not going to tell.**

 **Also, the next chapter is going to be about the other Winx and Specialists and what they've been up to, oh and their kids. Honestly? I can't wait. My favorite has to be the BS kids :P.**

* * *

 **Flora and Helia's kids:**

 **Ren:** their eldest child and only son, almost six years old. A pretty outgoing and loud kid, friendly and a bit naive. Likes to play rough. Chin-length black hair, green eyes, tan-ish skin (kinda looks like Mowgli, basically). Name means lotus or something like that, name kinda inspired by that one guy from RWBY.

 **Maylis (nn. Lissy):** youngest child and only daughter, 2-3 years old. A really fussy kid, either found in a bad mood or in the middle of a tantrum. Can be sweet sometimes. Short honey brown hair with a chunk of it tied at the top (does that make sense?), light tanned skin, bright blue eyes. I don't remember what her name means but it's something nature-y. Named after Maylis Beelzenia, third princess of Beelzenia in my favorite series, the Evillious Chronicles.

 **?'s twins:**

 **Coda (nn. Cody):** the older twin, six years old. A loud and outspoken kid, also kinda has a short temper. Really stubborn and determined about something. Can be really hard to earn his trust. Likes to play the drums. Tousled dark blue hair with bangs that almost covers his eyes, narrowed bright blue eyes, fair skin. Whoever guesses the meaning of his name gets to have one question about this fic answered! Whether it's spoilery or not, anything can be answered. Though be careful of what you ask.

 **Sonia (nn. Sony):** the younger twin, six years old. Quiet and aloof and speaks in nods and expressions. Surprisingly smart and clever, talented too. Has an interest in fighting and weaponry. Dark blue hair in a bob, sharp violet eyes, and pale skin. Her name...doesn't really mean anything, I just thought it sounded nice.

* * *

 **Okay, now that that's out of the way, until next time!**


	3. youth

**A/N: Another chapter! Because why not! Lots of hints and stuff, along with exposition, so yeah.**

 **Also, congrats to Yameliz for the meaning of Cody's name! And yes, you're right about what you said, so you're in the right track!**

* * *

 _And if you're in love, then you are the lucky one  
'Cause most of us are bitter over someone._

 _-Daughter_

* * *

 _1 week after_ _ **he**_ _left._

"Are you sure you're going to be fine here on your own?"

It was a pleasant morning in Alfea, the birds were chirping and the sun was shining brightly as if to greet the day ahead. And with this pleasant day, a certain princess of Solaria suggested that they go out with the guys for brunch and go shopping, which most of them didn't object to, well except one.

"Yeah, yeah," Musa waved off, her eyes rolling as she sat on one of the couches in their dorm. Her friends exchanged looks, skeptical.

Ever since _that_ incident last week, the one that broke two hearts, the one that left a group of tight-knit buddies incomplete, the uncertain future, words left unsaid. Ever since that, her friends had been sympathetic, wait no, _pity_ is the more appropriate word. They _pitied_ her, like some poor damsel who lost her knight in shining armor, but that's not the case at all, she _let go_ of him, for the best too. And yet they act like she's some depressed damsel on suicide watch, going out of their way to choose their words carefully around her, making these small gestures and favors for her that she never asked for, and asking these not-subtle-at-all pity questions like 'how have you been feeling?' or 'are you okay?'.

Honestly, it made her _sick._

Speaking of which.

"You sure?" Bloom asked hesitantly. She was giving her that look as she's the most unfortunate person on the entire dimension and no one else was in a worse situation like her, not the woman who lost her husband and infant son in a fire, not the starving little girl locked in her house and abandoned by her mother, no screw that.

"Yeah, I just feel a bit under the weather, so," Musa shrugged. Well, more like avoid the awkwardness of being the only one without anyone, but she was a bit sick as well. A few days ago she had felt a sudden fatigue overwhelm her, as well as dizziness and nausea, and at first, she shrugged it off, blaming it on the leftover burritos, but...those things still hadn't gone away since, and even the usually lax fairy of music was starting to get concerned, but not enough to go to the nurse about it. She wasn't called a stubborn fairy for nothing.

"'A bit under the weather'?" Her roommate frowned. "You vomited in my closet at three in the morning last night."

"I thought it was the bathroom!" She defended. "And besides, it wasn't as bad as the time I barfed in one of your boots yesterday morning."

Tecna's voice rose in shock. "What do you mean you vomited in my boot-?!"

"Okay, Musa, you've been sick for almost four days now," Flora said, her voice gentle but at the same time, firm. "You should go to the nurse..."

She rolled her eyes, "I'll be fine-"

"No, you're not." Aisha cut her off quickly. "Just go to the nurse already, to get rid of whatever that's making you tired and vomiting all over the place before you spread it around the school."

Musa sighed as she was being lectured by her friends, before she gave in. "Okay, fine, I'll go."

So, after her friends left to frolick around Magix City with their boyfriends that didn't ditch them after she convinced them that she would be fine on her own, Musa now found herself walking through school halls, on the way to the infirmary but tempted to take a turn and ditch the plan, run away, live on a small and faraway planet where no one knows her, change her name to Sonia, and live the rest of her days as a lonesome woman selling fruits by a small road not often driven.

But...maybe another time. What does she have to worry about, anyway? She probably only has a bad case of the flu, and with some antibiotics, she'll be fine in a week or so, it won't result in a life-long consequence and regret, things should be fine. Right?

Right?

 _"Wrong."_ The voice was oddly deep and gravelly with a hint of mockery and twisted amusement, nothing she's heard before.

She suddenly gasped, her anxious and conflicting inner monologue cut short as she spots something in her peripheral vision, a dark figure behind a corner. Classes were in session so she should be the only person here, and this person looked too tall to be a student, and appeared to wear a dark cloak that covered everything, the only thing visible was his mocking smirk. She sharply turned to the figure, ready to confront the potential trespasser until-

Nothing was there.

Baffled, she slowly gulped and quickly considered herself insane. First the fatigue, nausea, dizziness, and now hallucinations? She definitely needed to go to the nurse before anything gets worse.

And so she left, trying to forget her creepy 'hallucination' the rest of the day, and eventually, she did.

Except...it wasn't a hallucination, and she shouldn't have forgotten about it. Not really.

* * *

...

"Nervous?" Helia offered his friend a reassuring smile as Flora put down snacks for the upcoming playdate and reunion, the day was bright and clear and the smell of freshly baked cookies tempted Riven's stomach but it still didn't stop his insides from nervously turning into knots. It had been nearly a week since his comeback to two of his old friends' lives, he visited them nearly every day and heard glimpses of what his other friends had been up to, which was nice.

Strangely enough, while telling him the gang's adventures, they never mentioned _her_ , and when they did, they'd always stop abruptly as if they weren't supposed to say that, sometimes Flora would even be close to tears. So, as curious and- judging by their reactions of her name alone- concerned of _her_ whereabouts, he didn't want to push them, and he just hopes he'll see for himself when ( _if)_ she comes to the playdate.

This past week he had been pondering of what she had been up to. Was she married (and who's the _bastard)_? Kids? What did she do for a living? A popular musician (he hoped)? Where did she live now? Was she...happy?

Okay, about the thing where he hoped to see her soon, he changed his mind. He'd rather not know. He doesn't want to know. He's not ready to know.

"I really, really don't want to get punched in the face." Riven half-joked, his smile strained and wry as he turned his head to turn to the kids playing in the backyard. The three six-year-olds were dressed nicely for the occasion, but it's kind of for nothing as Ren and Cody played a rough game of tag, their once freshly washed shoes soiled by mud and soil, grass sticking on their clothing, their once gelled and combed hair that Flora spent a good chunk of time on was messy and stuck out in odd places (Cody especially). Sonia, on the other hand, merely observed the two with amusement.

"Oh come on, you can take it, Riven," Flora said playfully as she gave Maylis, who was whining the whole time, a cookie to munch on, which immediately shut her up. "It's worth it. The guys really miss you, even if they don't say it." She directed her statement at Helia, who rolled his eyes playfully.

"Still..." Riven's eyes lingered on the children. This past week he had learned more about the children and even became close with one of them: Ren, surprisingly, who started pestering Riven to teach him how to fight with a sword after learning he was an excellent swordsman (ironic, for a son of such a pacifistic couple), and with Helia's (disgruntled) approval, he taught the boy the basics, much to Ren's delight.

Cody, on the other hand, seemed to dislike Riven. He wasn't verbal about it, but six-year-olds were predictable, how he scoffs and rolls his eyes whenever Riven told them 'badass' stories of his youth, getting up and leaving whenever Riven sits next to him or even enters the same room as him, one word answers and a disinterested expression whenever Riven tries to talk to him. Riven knew that Cody disliked, if not hated him, but why, he had no clue.

For Sonia, well Riven didn't have much to say about her, where Cody was predictable and expressive, Sonia, not so much with her often blank expressions. She doesn't even talk, at least not around him, does she even talk at all? How's he supposed to know? Though one thing to note about her was that sometimes, he catches her staring at him intently like the first time they saw one another, she was looking at him like he was part of some puzzle needed solving. But why?

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Oh, that must be one of them! I'll go get it," Flora got up from her seat and went to welcome whoever came.

Riven gulped, getting more nervous even as an already nervous wreck. Hearing two pairs of footsteps accompany Flora's, Riven closed his eyes. This is the moment. He's going to get punched in the face...

"Riven?" A familiar voice asked, her voice surprised as her male companion merely hummed questioningly, before blurting "What the fuck?" to which his female companion quickly shushed him.

He waited for the moment to get punched or slapped or whatever, but he wasn't. So he peeked one of his eyes opened and saw two familiar heads, one with long wavy dark brown hair, and the other with gelled blue hair.

Aisha and Nex.

Almost nothing changed about them, sure Aisha has her hair in a different style than he's used to, and Nex had cut his hair shorter than during the short time they'd known each other, their outfits had been different as well, though that's to be expected. But...those aren't the first things Riven had noticed.

Nex was wearing a baby carrier strap thing[1] (which, looked silly in Riven's opinion), and strapped on his back, was a toddler barely the age of two. Noticing his parents' surprised reactions, the toddler poked his head out to see the commotion. His hair was dark brown with a light hint of maroon (like his mother's), it was curly and disheveled like the kid had just gone out of bed, his skin was a light brown (somewhere between Aisha and Nex's) and his sleepy eyes were a bright golden yellow. The kid blinked at Riven, before going back to sleep on his dad's back, deciding the man wasn't anything of interest.

"What's he doing here?" Aisha immediately demanded as soon as she got over her initial shock, gesturing at Riven as if he was some abomination.

Flora came to Riven's defense like the kind soul she was. "Riven came back and we decided it was as good a time as any to have a reunion of some sort-"

Aisha crossed her arms, Riven rarely even saw her this pissed off before. "A reunion my ass. Nothing's a reunion if _she_ isn't here anymore!"

Flora, Helia, and even Nex visibly winced, as if she was opening up barely-healed wounds and pouring lemon juice all over it. "Aisha, please don't start," Helia asked, almost pleading, "Not here, not now."

"Yeah," Nex agreed hastily, putting his hands on her tensed shoulders. "It wasn't his fault, he didn't know."

Riven's brows furrowed, was he referring to him? "What?"

"Nothing, man!" Nex quickly told Riven, waving his hand dismissively. "Whoa, Noah is getting heavier by day! Better put him down," he laughed nervously as a weak attempt to ease tension, putting Noah down on some playmat with Maylis.

Aisha, still kind of pissed, continued to glare at Riven as she huffed, sitting down on the chair that was the most far away from the magenta-haired man, Nex sat next to her, not out of spite like she, but just in case she snaps and someone needed to hold her back.

All became silent, the air thick it might as well suffocate all the adults in the room. Some of them tried starting conversations but each was quickly shot down, and so the silence.

It continued that way until they heard a bright, familiar "Yohoo~!" from a distance, and Riven internally groaned, knowing who it is. Everyone turned their heads to see two heads of blonde and brown hair, accompanied by their 'mini-me's. The golden couple with their golden children.

Stella and Brandon.

They haven't changed much either, at least not to the extent where Riven couldn't recognize them. They now both have this more mature air about them, now monarchs of a large kingdom instead of teenagers in love. Stella wore a much more elaborate outfit as if she was in a fashion show instead of a simple playdate, and Brandon now had a small beard, but that's about it, really.

Someone had run past them in excitement, a young boy, aged five. His hair was dirty blond, short and tousled with one side longer than the other, his eyes were a bright golden color and his skin looked as if it was kissed by the sun. He was dressed in an elaborate and preppy outfit, no doubt his mother's doing but he doesn't seem to mind it. Dimples appeared on his cheeks whenever he smiled, which was often.

A future heartbreaker, if Riven's ever seen one.

Riven also noticed another child, a little girl, barely aged four, hiding behind her father shyly, tugging on his shirt. Her eyes were a surprising bright blue, her hair was brown, adorned with cute hair accessories and tied into neat pigtails, her skin was sun-kissed like the rest of her family. Like her brother, she wore an elaborate and preppy dress, but she seemed quite uncomfortable in it.

A shy daughter? That's...unexpected.

Both Stella and Brandon stopped their tracks as their eyes widened at the sight of an old friend. Suddenly, Brandon ran towards him, and before Riven knew it, a fist suddenly collided with his cheek.

 _I knew it. I fucking knew it._

The punch itself wasn't strong enough to send him flying or crack his bones, which was nice, but it was strong enough to leave a bruise, which was not nice. Brandon didn't seem all that angry, though, in fact, he seemed glad? "Sky told me to do that since he couldn't do it himself at the moment." He said, a smile gracing his handsome features, making him look like he didn't just punch an old friend in the face.

"Whatever," Riven muttered as he rubbed his cheek, his mood now sour. Even as the King of a different kingdom, Brandon was still Sky's right-hand man at heart, apparently. How cute.

But what Brandon did next...surprised him. Riven couldn't even process strong arms embracing him in a bro hug until Brandon finally let go of him, chuckling at his stunned reaction. "I- we missed you, man. Glad you're back." Everyone else was grinning at him (even Aisha had a small, bitter smile), mostly in agreement, but also in amusement.

Flustered, Riven turned, "whatever!"

Everyone laughed, "daddy?" Brandon's daughter called out quietly, tugging on his shirt, confused at the situation and the strange man. Their son looked confused as well.

"Oh, right," Brandon said after laughing, "Riven, these're our kids, Madison," he gestured to his shy daughter, "and Louis, but he likes Lou better." the boy smiled and waved. "Maddy, Lou, this is our old friend, Riven."

Lou looked at the man, his brows furrowing for reasons unknown. "Hey, you kind of look like-"

Brandon quickly covered Lou's mouth before he could finish, but he was too late. "-The guy in the pictures! Yeah, kiddos, he was- he was the guy in the pictures, yeah.." he laughed nervously, but he was too late.

"No," Madison suddenly piped up, her eyes on Riven. "you look like..."

Everyone's eyes suddenly widened in panic at what she said next, and for Riven, it was as if it was in slow motion, his eyes gradually widening as well.

"...Sony."

* * *

 **A/N: I decided to cut this off right here, because I can't write anymore. I have exams tomorrow, I still need to finish my book report that was already four days due, so yeah.**

 **Don't worry, the others will come too, just not in this chapter. Things sorta went out of plan and the past portion got too long, and I can only really write the maximum of 3000 words per night before I'll have a headache, and this time it sorta exceeded.**

 **So...lots of info here, yeah? Foreshadowing (if you catch it) and stuff. Why was Musa sick (this is obvious)? Why was Aisha so pissed at Riven coming back (kinda not obvious, but hinted)? Why does Cody dislike Riven (this will change)? Also, other questions I couldn't be bothered to ask. When will the others show up (I'll answer this one: next chapter)?**

* * *

 **[1]-** Inspired by Craig from Dream Daddy lol. How he always seems to have River strapped to his chest all the time is just fucking adorable. Craig best daddy.

* * *

 **AxN kid:**

 **Prince Noah-** Aisha and Nex's only son, the youngest of the Winx kids (for now).a two-year-old kiddo who's lazy AF. Acts like he doesn't care about anything and sometimes looks at you as if you're a weirdo. Light brown skin, curly dark brown, kinda maroon-ish hair, golden eyes. His name doesn't mean anything, just thought it was a nice surfer dude name. His name was suppoosed to be Andro but it sounded too similar to Andros.

 **SxB kids:**

 **Prince Louis "Lou"-** Stella and Brandon's eldest child, their only son, heir apparent of Solaria. Five years old, a bright and friendly kiddo, the type to make friends easily and really inclusive. Can come across as arrogant and snobbish at times, mostly because of the outfits his mom makes him wear. Talks before he thinks. Surprisingly loves shopping and fashion. Tousled dirty blond hair, tanned skin, golden eyes. Obviously named after the fashion brand and founder of said fashion brand, Louis-Vuitton (did I spell that right? lol).

 **Princess Madison "Maddy"-** Stella and Brandon's younger child, only daughter. Four years old, kinda shy and tends to hide behind her parents or brother. Hates the spotlight and isn't at all that interested in fashion (much to Stella's frustration). Cries if provoked. Long brown hair in pigtails, tanned skin, blue eyes (that she got from queen Luna, her grandmother). Her name doesn't mean anything, she was supposed to be another boy named Murray, but I decided that giving Stella another son when she desperately wanted a daughter was too cruel, so Madison it is.

Extra info: Lou...wasn't what Stella wanted, so she had to have another so soon. The reason why Lou and Maddy are so close in age. Though, Stella does come to realize a son is as precious as a daughter, and she loves them all the same.

* * *

 **Okay, I'm kinda tired at the moment. Again, feedback of any kind is welcome (c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶I̶'̶m̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶i̶n̶s̶e̶c̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶p̶e̶r̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶p̶e̶o̶p̶l̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶o̶p̶i̶n̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶h̶a̶h̶a̶H̶A̶), and for now, till next time!**


	4. simple song

Im sad. im so sa-

 **A/N: An update, yay!**

 **Btw, this was kinda late but Happy Holidays (or Merry Christmas)!**

 **Also, sorry if the writing is off, I had to write this on a separate computer so I didn't have the grammar checking thingy to correct some spelling and grammar errors.**

* * *

 _I know that things can really go tough when you go it alone  
Don't go thinking you gotta be tough, and bleed like a stone._

 _-The Shins_

* * *

 _1 week after **he** left._

"You're _WHAT?!"_

Not even the shrill shriek from the Solarian princess could ease the deafening and tense silence in the room. After the rest of the Winx's shopping spree/group date, they had come home to bad news from the musical fairy, and to say they were shocked was an understatement.

Musa, the one bearing the bad news, was sitting on her bed, her face on a pillow as she couldn't even look at her friends in the eye. Flora and Bloom were each on her side, trying to comfort their upset friend. Aisha was pacing urgently around the room, her face in a scowl at the news thrown at her. Stella had merely been standing, being the last to go in the room after putting down her bags, and thus, the last to be given the news. Tecna was sitting on her desk chair, arms crossed and lips thinned, deep in thought.

"How did this happen?" Flora murmured quietly, her expression a clear worried one as she soothingly rubbed her friend's back in a vain attempt at comfort.

"Really, Flora?" Aisha snapped unexpectedly. "Out of all the things we should ask, like, oh I don't know, what do we do now, or how should we handle this, you ask _that?_ Dragon, Flora, don't tell me you need a recap on the birds and bees—"

"Christ, Aisha, calm down," Bloom said, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. She…didn't know what to do, or what to say, or even what to think. Yes, as silly as it sounded, Princess Bloom of Domino, future Queen of Eraklyon, daughter of two Company of Light members, leader and one of the founders of the New Company of Light, and not to mention the Fairy of the Dragon-damned-Flame, didn't know what to do.

You'd think after having that much on her resume, she'd know what to do, but she didn't, neither did anyone else. The Winx had dealt with many serious problems before, whether it'd be a lover and good friend's premature demise, or three troublesome witches that just _won't_ give up. They've dealt with all of that before, and ready to deal with it again (maybe not the first one), but this? Not really.

"Whatever," Aisha heaved a deep sigh as she sat on a chair. "Anyway, Musa, first things first," she turned to the musical fairy with a serious expression. "What's your plan? About… _it_ , I mean." They didn't know how to approach the subject, it had been a first, after all.

Finally, Musa pulled her head from her pillow, revealing her eyes as red and puffy, mascara and lipstick smeared as a damp path ran along her cheeks. She was a complete, utter mess.

"I…don't know," she whimpered honestly, her once melodious and confident voice was barely a whisper. "I'm not ready, like, a _t all._ But…I don't want to, _you know_ , it either. I'm just…not that kind of person."

Tecna frowned, "so you're keeping it." It wasn't a question. Musa merely nodded. She sighed, clearly not happy with her decision, but said nothing against it. Musa had always been a rather...resolute person, once she's made a decision, she'll stick with it to the very end, and no argument could convince her otherwise. So, Tecna, as her roommate and best friend for many years, did not bother arguing, and just hoped for the best.

Stella thought about it. " _Whose_ is it, by the way, if you don't mind me asking?"

She kept looking down. " _You know._ "

Everyone fell silent before suddenly, Aisha abruptly stood. "That _bastard,_ " She cursed, before turning to the tech fairy, "Tecna!"

"I'm on it," as if she had been waiting for the moment, Tecna quickly whipped out her phone, dialing some number to call.

Musa, alarmed, abruptly stood as well. "Whoa, wait, wait, hold on, Tec, who are you calling?"

Tecna didn't even look at her, instead focusing on the ringing on her phone. She's heard that _he_ threw his phone and other ties to them to reinforce his 'new leaf' idea, so she couldn't call him herself, hell, she wasn't even sure if she even had _his_ number, to begin with. "Timmy. He and the guys need to find that miscreant and drag his arse back here—"

"Don't do it! Just… _please,_ " she nearly begged, her voice urgent and desperate, which…stunned her friends, Tecna especially, who lowered her phone even after her curious boyfriend picked up. "He…doesn't need to know." _He deserves better than to be stuck here._

"Have you gone absolutely mad?" Stella demanded, her voice rising with each word, not in the usual cheery tone everyone was used to either. "I may not be the brightest star in the sky but I know you can't do this kind of thing alone!"

Flora and Bloom's lips thinned as everyone else seemed to agree with Stella. "...Who says she's going to do this kind of thing alone?" Bloom asked, "She has us, does she not?"

Everyone fell silent once again, Bloom did have a point..."She's right," Flora spoke up, turning to Musa, "sweetheart, please know that we'll always be there for you, no matter what happens, we're the Winx, after all," she turned to the other girls a bit ominously, " _right,_ girls?"

The girls were quick to agree, "yes, but Musa-"

"I said, _right,_ girls?"

"Yes!" Aisha quickly said, not adding any more. The others were agreeing as well. Musa looked up and saw everyone was smiling at her, and even if some were forced, she could still feel a warm and genuine love radiating from each and every one of them.

Tears rolled along the path of her cheeks, but instead of worry and uncertainty of the future, it was out of happiness and relief, knowing that no matter what happens, the Winx will always be there for her, and she will be for them. And honestly, there's nothing more she could've asked. Not even _him._

"Thank you."

...

Everyone became silent after the four-year-old said those words, and the reactions were mixed. Brandon, still covering Lou's mouth, along with Aisha and Nex had visibly winced, as if someone had poured salt over unhealed wounds, Flora, Helia, and Stella was looking at him carefully, studying his reactions, their own faces blank, the kids were confused as to what was happening, and Riven, he knew the others expected him to snap or go berserk as he would have six years ago, but...at this moment, he was just confused, caught off guard.

"It's...it's just a coincidence, sweetie, nothing more," Stella eventually said, putting her hands on her daughter's shoulder.

Lou and Maddy shared looks, not looking quite convinced. After his confusion subsided, Riven cleared his throat, "yeah, kids, it's just a coincidence," he said, helping out despite the simmering questions in his head, "I've never met Sonia before, so there's no connection between us, at all." He said the last statement slowly, subtly darting his eyes towards Flora and Helia, who avoided his gaze suspiciously.

They still didn't look very convinced. "But..."

"Hello!" A cheery and young voice called, belonging to a little girl. Everyone looked up and saw, indeed, a little girl clumsily running towards them, two adults and two other children following behind her. She looked to be around the age of Lou, about five years old, perhaps younger. Her familiar orange hair was cut short and was rather choppy, a portion of it was tied in a small ponytail while the rest clumsily fell to her face and shoulders, her skin was pale, and due to her green, thick-rimmed glasses, it was hard to distinguish the color of her eyes, perhaps blue, maybe green, or maybe even both.

Riven certainly knew whose spawn this was.

Fortunately for almost everyone, the Solarian heirs became distracted as they both waved to the newly arrived. Riven squinted his eyes, seeing the figures closer for the first time and became confused.

One of the adults was a familiar man, his orange-brown hair cut neater and short than six years ago, and his large clunky red glasses he had worn in his youth was replaced with much more mature and smaller, rectangular spectacles. The woman next to him also looked familiar; just not someone he expected. She didn't appear to change much other than the mature air she had much like the others, her red orange hair still looked a mess as always despite all the fancy ornaments trying to hold it back, and she wore a blue, Disney-esque dress. Both of her hands were held by two children, a boy and a girl, twins, he supposed.

Are they...?

"Hey, guys!" The woman was, no surprise, Bloom. She had let go of her kids at this point to let them play along with the others, and had waved at her good old friends. "So sorry for being late; he had been- are my eyes deceiving me right now?" Her eyes had gone wide as soon as it came contact with the familiar hair of dark magenta color.

"Long time no see, B-" Riven was about to greet, if not for Bloom's palm coming contact with his cheek- the same cheek that Brandon had punched, by the way- and at that moment Riven felt sharp pain sear all over his face as he fell to the ground, it was just that strong. This was worse than Brandon.

"Sorry! Brandon told me to do it if he couldn't make it," Bloom didn't notice Brandon awkwardly waving at her until it was too late. "Whoops."

"Fucking dammit-" Riven cursed, not caring about the children in close proximity at this point. But he stopped, seeing a hand extended out to him to help him out. Without thinking much, he accepted it and stood up, rubbing his _really_ sore cheek, he even could've sworn he could taste blood.

Timmy looked at him, "are you okay?"

"Really?" Riven asked him incredulously, looking up at his old friend for the first time. Looking closely, Timmy looked...tired and stressed, bags under his eyes and his lips a thin line. His posture also looked tensed, as if everyone around him would attack or something. Weird, but he didn't care. "Try being punched by Brandon and slapped hard by Bloom in one day and try answering that for me! I swear, your wife-"

"My wife?" Timmy blinked, before his eyes narrowed. "What the hell does she-"

"Looks like everyone is complete!" Flora unknowingly interrupted, clapping her hands together in delight. "Please, help yourselves with the snacks."

"Sweet." Nex said, a smile on his face as he grabbed two cookies, one for him and one for Noah, who was indifferent to it and so he just handed it to Aisha, who was also indifferent to the pastry and so Nex just ate both. "Like mother like son," he muttered as he munched on the cookies.

As everyone was helping themselves to some snacks and chatting, Riven noticed some kids staring at him; Bloom's twins. And it wasn't those curious stares from kids that used to annoy him to no end, no, the kids' faces didn't look curious, they didn't look like anything. They were blank, their faces emotionless and those eyes, dragon, those eyes-

"Oh, right!" Bloom turned and (thankfully) interrupted the twins' staring session. "Riven, these are my twins, Grace," she gestured to the girl, "and Grayson," the boy. "Sweethearts, this is an old friend, Riven. Say hi!"

Bloom wasn't kidding when she said they were twins, Grace and Grayson looked _nearly_ alike, with the small difference of, of course, their genders. But other than that, they looked like gender swaps of one another. They were both pale skinned, blue-eyed, and blonde children with aristocratic features. Grace wore a blue dress with pink ribbons, while Grayson wore something similar, only with a blue sweater vest and pink tie, along with shorts. Grayson had his hair cut short with his bangs neatly parted, while Grace's hair was similar, only it was longer, nearly reaching her lower back and adorned with ribbons. The twins were always seen holding hands, their movements often synchronized.

You know those creepy twins in movies? The dress-alike, finish-each-other's-sentences, probably-wants-to-eat-your-soul kind of twins? Well, Grace and Grayson are the real life epitomes of that.

"Hello there, mister." Grace started, but judging by her tone, she wasn't finished yet.

"Nice to meet you." Grayson continued as they both gave him eerie smiles at the same time.

Riven could've sworn chills ran down his spine. "Err, likewise." He slightly turned, "err, I have to go," he didn't care if it was rude, but he walked away, where the snacks were, and hastily grabbed a cupcake- a red velvet cupcake, his favorite, by the way- not noticing a small hand was about to grab it as well.

"Hey! You give that back!" A small voice exclaimed angrily as Riven was about to walk away. He knew that voice, Riven turned and saw Cody, cookie crumbles stuck on his chubby cheeks, little fists clenched and brows furrowed at him. Sony was behind him, looking...upset.

"What?" Riven asked, quirking a brow. What did he want now?

"That," Cody pointed at the cupcake, "was the last red velve-thingy cupcake in the tray!"

"So?"

"It's Sony's favorite!" Cody yelled, gesturing to his sister, "and she was about to take it but you took it first!"

"Well, that's the thing, I took it first," Riven frowned, growing annoyed as his old, careless and heartless self resurfacing. Being punched and slapped in the face in one day isn't easy and he thought he deserved this little treat. "First lesson in life, kids, 'finders keepers, losers weepers'."

It seemed to piss Cody off even more, and Riven couldn't help but think that the look on his face looked familiar, as if he had seen it before, but on someone else. And the urge to give the cupcake up grew stronger. "Riven, just give it up," Timmy muttered from behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's a _child,_ Riven. You are fighting with a child."

Realizing what he had been doing, and deeming himself an idiot, Riven sighed and walked towards the twins (no, not the creepy ones, he's never going near them). Cody and Sony grew defensive but soon faltered as the man handed the red small cake. "Here."

Sony blinked at the dessert in front of her, small tears on the corners of her sharp eyes soon disappeared, and for the first time ever, Riven saw the girl smile. And not only that.

"Thank you," her voice was quiet, but also sweet, and Riven could feel genuine gratefulness radiating from her voice alone. Riven couldn't help but smile himself.

"It's nothing, kid."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm being ambiguous and setting up red herrings for NO reason because I'm an asshole!**

 **There was supposed to be an extra scene with Riven and Timmy, with Timmy spouting off exposition stuff but I decided this was a good enough end for a chapter. Soo maybe next time.**

 **Okay, that's all of the introduction for now, I'm glad to get this off my chest. Now time for the real story to begin!**

 **Questions. Questions. Questions. What's up with Musa (I mean, I didn't outright say it, but it's kinda obvious, is it not?)? Why are Bloom's twins creepy af? What is ginger glasses girl's name (I realized I didn't add it in. It's Ada)? Are the characters written accurate or am I a failure as a writer (this is a legitimate question)? I don't know, I don't wanna ask more questions cause I might give something away.**

 **Btw I'm going to revise the chapters soon, adding some stuff and maybe replace the photo with a clearer version, so yeah.**

* * *

 **Timmy's kid:**

 **Ada:** Only child, five years old. Witty and mischievous, a bit stubborn and won't go down without questioning everything which drives her father mad ("you need to go to bed" "why?" "so you'll have energy tomorrow" "why?"). Kinda dorky like her parents but isn't at all shy or awkward, really confident actually. Feels emotionally neglected by her mother. Choppy orange hair with a small ponytail, pale skin, thick rimmed green glasses with blue-green eyes. Named after first ever computer programmer (because who else?) Ada Lovelace, it's also computer language thingy? I don't know, too lazy to look it up.

 **Bloom's kids:**

 **Princess Grace and Prince Grayson:** creepy ass twins. Dresses alike (maybe that's not their fault, though), speaks either at the same time or finishes each other's sentences, movements synchronized, has this creepy, empty look in their eyes. Probably wants your soul.

- **Princess Grace:** The older twin and arguably the 'dominant' one. Wicked and clever. Pale skinned, blonde haired, and blue-eyed with strong aristocratic features. Her hair is styled similarly to her brother except it's longer with ribbons. Wears whatever matches with what her brother is wearing.

- **Prince Grayson:** The younger twin and arguably the submissive one. Naive and just does whatever his sister tells him to. Pale skinned, blonde haired, and blue eyed with strong aristocratic features. His hair is styled similarly to his sister except it's cut short. Wears whatever matches with what his sister is wearng.

Note: I based two sets of twins off of them, both of them creepy in their own ways. Their personalities are based off of Hansel and Gretel from Evillious Chronicles (the kids on the cover), while their appearances and mannerisms are based off of Christian and Christie from Dream Daddy.

Why creepy twins? Because why not.

* * *

 **Any form of feedback is welcomed, whether it be someone reviewing merely 'update' and nothing else, or a flame saying that this sucks without elaborating why and telling me to kill myself. Well-thought out reviews are my drugs. Bc I crave feedback. Also, it helps me update faster, so yeah, review! pls**

 **Im sad. I'm so sad-**


	5. a twist in my story

**A/N: Happy new year! *tries to blow confetti but backfires miserably* anyways, here's an update! Because school is near and I might not survive the rest of the year.**

 **Also: I revised the previous chapters! And by revised, I mean adding song lyrics and correcting some numbers. But yeah, song lyrics. Because Musa the fairy of Music needs to have something song-y for this, so a song lyric per chapter! Also, you may have noticed I only included the artist, not the title of the song because I'm an asshole! If you really like the lyrics, find them yourselves!**

 **Also also: new summary! I hope you like them 'cause I spent over an hour trying to come up with that (lame, I know). There's a longer version in the first chapter, just so you know.**

* * *

 _So you see, this world doesn't matter to me  
I'll give up all I had just to breathe  
The same air as you 'till the day that I die  
I can't take my eyes off of you…_

 _-Secondhand Serenade_

* * *

 _5 months after_ _ **he**_ _left._

Though it wasn't something she'd often ponder about, ever since she was young, she'd sometimes dream of a distant future. A future where her dreams of becoming a musician came true, where she had a comfy home by the beach side that is neither too small nor big, where she had a strong husband who's not quite darling but who loved her as fiercely as she did him, where she and her friends still kept touch even through the stresses of jobs and building their families.

…and, where she would give birth to a beautiful, but strong daughter with a voice like summer rain. A daughter who's as playful as she is stubborn, who's the apple of both her parents' eyes, who's like her in some ways, but is also her own person.

A future not quite perfect, but it might as well be.

But…fate was not kind, she thought wryly, even while dealing with the sharp and agonizing pain of labor as the doctor exclaimed, "It's a boy!"

An instant shriek of an infant's wailing filled the room as the newborn squirmed in the doctor's grasp. The sound was so loud and intense that most of the nurses flinched and covered their ears.

"Quite the energy this little man has," an older nurse noted as the doctor handed the still wailing and squirming infant to her, though she appeared to be used to it. She wrapped the baby up in warm blankets and took brief tests on the newborn. Determining him as healthy, she eventually handed him to Musa.

Oh, and the kid never stopped crying, by the way.

"Err, are you sure there's nothing wrong with him—"

"Yes, he seems healthy. His pulse rate is stable, he appears to have strong lungs—"

"He hasn't stopped crying since he got out."

"It's probably just colic, darling."

"I don't think newborns have colic this soon—"

"Look, sweetheart, I've no idea. I never met a baby who cried this much before, but let's just hope he'll stop soon, yes?"

She looked at the nurse with her lips thinning, finally giving up as she held the newborn for the first time. Her son. _His_ child. _Their_ baby and he doesn't know. She shook her head at the thought, this shouldn't be the time to think about him. She made her choice.

It should have been a serene moment when she first held him, where everything else didn't matter and she finally saw what mattered the most.

But it was hard when there was a loud and high-pitched siren in the form of her son ringing nonstop.

And it was harder as she felt another contraction in her stomach.

Wait…what?

"She's going through another labor!" The doctor yelled her voice urgent as she and the nurses got into position, her son was taken away for a moment as one of the nurses placed him in a crib by his mother's bedside. He didn't stop crying.

Things were smoother this time, or maybe she just got used to it, but this was easier to go through than the first one, even if her already-born son's wailing was distracting everyone, enough for one of the nurses to pass around earbuds.

"It's another boy!" The doctor yelled before a nurse looked at the newborn with a frown and whispered something to the doctor. "Oh wait, it's a girl, I mistook her umbilical cord for something else…anyways," she cleared her throat as she handed the infant to a nurse for blankets and tests, oddly enough, the infant wasn't crying. "Congratulations, Ms. Musa, fraternal twins! A boy and a girl."

Once the girl was all bundled up in her pink blanket, the nurse was actually hesitant to put her next to her brother. This one was actually pleasantly quiet so far save for a few fusses, and putting her next to the loud one might cause a domino effect. "..I think we should have another crib—"

The baby boy seemed to immediately quiet down as soon as he felt the nurse with the pink bundle was near the crib, maybe not stop entirely, but his screams quieting down to fusses were noticeable by everyone around.

Musa thought of something, she turned to the nurse and gestured her to put her daughter down next to her still fussing son. And as she expected, the boy quieted down entirely after feeling a familiar presence of his companion of 8 months next to him.

The nurses were cooing at the sight, before being hushed by the doctor and the head nurse and being escorted out to leave some alone time for the new parent. Musa took a deep breath as she looked at the two sleeping bundles on the crib, and she felt like crying.

Fate was surely unkind sometimes, but it tries. Sure, she hadn't had much luck in her musical career considering her current situation. Sure, she didn't have a cozy house by the beach side. Sure, she doesn't have a husband with her. Sure, all of her friends were so busy with their lives that they couldn't be here with her.

But…looking at these two, a light fuzz of dark hair atop their heads and facing one another as if content with the world, not only did she have a beautiful daughter, but a sweet son as well, and only now did she realized that she loved them beyond comprehension. How she'll do everything for them to be happy. How even if she knows it won't be easy, it will be worth it.

Even without _him._

Her heart dropped. _**Him.**_

She wondered how _he_ will think of them, will he be happy and fall in love with them as she did, or will he be disappointed and lash out, feeling like he's stuck with this obligation? She frowned. It didn't matter.

Regardless of how he'll feel about them, they're still precious and she'll do absolutely everything for them.

Musa was a realist at heart, and often scoffed at those parents who claimed their spawns were perfect and lovely and all that.

She knew her twins weren't perfect….but, they're close enough.

* * *

...

"I don't like you," Cody said one morning as Riven was carrying a box of purple hyacinths into the flower shop. It had been a few days since the so-called reunion (or, as Nex jokingly called it, the punch-Riven-for-no-reason-Day). The kids were playing some video game in the back room when Cody decided to come out and pester Riven.

"Oh yeah?" Riven asked distractedly as he went in the shop, feigning surprise and curiosity. It was stupid of him, but he hadn't really thought of his return through, what he'll do or where he'll go or any of that stuff, and he got sick of travelling anyway so after being invited by Flora and Helia to stay with them for a while until he had it all figured out, Riven decided it would nice to help out with the flower shop in an attempt to not feel like he was some freeloader. And besides, flowers and their pleasant smells were a nice change of scenery from seeing bloodshed and weapons.

Cody nodded defiantly, "Yeah!"

"Why?" He asked after putting down the box with a huff. He actually didn't care what the brat thought of him, many people didn't like him, whether it'd just be first impressions or even simply by looking at him, but he decided to play along with the kid, hear what petty excuse he comes up with.

The boy seemed caught off guard as he expected Riven to just ignore him or shrug it off. "Well, um, I just don't like you!" He said, flustered. "You're sometimes mean and you have this scary look on your face and you give off this weird vibe-!"

"Weird vibe?" Riven cocked a brow, "What do you mean?"

"Uh, I dunno," Cody murmured, turning away, "You're just...ugh, bye!" With that, he ran off, leaving a rather baffled Riven.

Riven blinked, standing up, not noticing a little girl behind him.

"Cody's always like that around strangers," Sony muttered, walking to his side.

"Oh," Riven said, looking down at the little girl, genuinely surprised. Ever since the velvet cupcake incident, Sony had started talking comfortably to and around him. Sharp violet eyes meet sharp violet eyes. Riven didn't know why, but he still felt...overwhelmed whenever he looked at her eyes.

He noticed that no one else was in the shop, Helia was out running for errands while Flora was in the back room with the rest of the kids, and Sonia seemed like a serious enough kid to truthfully answer the aching questions that had been floating inside his mind ever since he got here.

So...why not just take the chance? If none of his friends wanted him to know, then perhaps the kids will.

"Sonia?" Riven asked, looking at her again.

"Uh-huh?" Sony looked up and he ignored how the color of her hair reminded him of someone he so desperately wanted to see, how the color of her eyes made it look like he was looking into a mirror he'd rather not look.

Riven crouched to her height to talk to her properly, "Flora and Helia..." he started slowly, "they...they're not your parents, right?"

Sony looked confused as if the answer had been the most obvious thing ever. "Yeah..." She answered, "why?"

"Who are your parents, then?" Riven decided to cut to the chase, as beating around the bush appears to lead to nowhere when it came to children. "Or do you know them at all?"

The girl frowned as if the topic upset her. Riven was starting to really regret this..."I dunno," she eventually said, "I don't know who my dad is," sirens rang in Riven's head, "They don't ever talk about him, and whenever me and Cody talk about him, Auntie Flora gets upset, so we don't talk about him around them."

Riven bit his lip, "What about your mom?"

"I know her, but I don't remember her or her name," Sonia said, "Aunt Flora and the others talk about her sometimes, but that's about it. On our sixth birthday, Uncle Helia gave us both a picture oh her-"

"Can I see it?" Riven asked a bit too quickly, surprising Sonia, but nonetheless, she nodded, digging through her pockets.

"It's kinda crumpled. Cody keeps his under his pillow, so-"

"No, no, it's okay," He waved off impatiently. Sonia shrugged as she finally held a folded photograph, it had brown-ish stains (probably hot chocolate) and rips on the edges, fixed clumsily with tape, it also looked rather worn, felt a bit soft and tender, as if one wrong move and it will rip, but Riven didn't care.

This was it. He can finally sleep at night, or maybe not.

As much as he hoped it was whoever it was in the photograph, there was also a part of him screaming _Please don't be her. Please dont be her. please don't be her. pleasedontbeher._

He slowly unfolded the photo, one eye open, and slowly saw all of the contents.

 _Long, flowing dark blue hair. Bright, narrowed blue eyes. Pale skin. That smile._

 _That smile._

"Musa."

* * *

 **A/N: LOL what even is pacing? I don't even know what I'm doing anymore, does this chapter make sense? I hope so. I'm not sure if the pacing's right, is this too early? I really don't want to drag this fic long so...**

 **So...yeah, Sony and Cody, you know who. I really don't know a lot about giving birth in hospitals and all that so apologies if I portrayed it wrong. Also, I know Musa's whereabouts are still unknown, not many hints, but it will kinda in the next chapter, I think.**

 **I'm not really myself at the moment, it's 1:30, so sorry if anything I said doesn't make sense. As always, feedback is welcomed, unless it has nothing to do with the fic then just don't.**


	6. begin again

**A/N: Quick update! Shorter than most chapters bc I'm kinda in a hurry soooo ye.**

* * *

 _And you throw your head back laughing like a little kid  
I think it's strange that you find it funny  
'cause **he** never did._

 _And I've been spending the last 8 months, thinking all love ever does_  
 _Is break, and burn, and end_  
 _But on a Wednesday in a cafe_

 _I watched it begin again._

 _-taylor swift_

* * *

 _8 months after_ _ **he**_ _left._

"Aww, they're so cute!"

Stella cooed so loudly that everyone in the cafe turned to look at them briefly, and Musa wanted nothing more than melt in the ground in embarrassment right then and there. She gave sheepish smiles to everyone before turning to her blonde friend, who was still cooing on what, or rather, who were on the little pink stroller (a sheepish gift from her well-intentioned friend Bloom, who had been anticipating the baby to be a girl).

Musa sighed, the edge of her lips quirking into a small smile. Well, she couldn't blame the woman, her twins were so damn cute and whoever says otherwise, she'd have to punch.

"What are their names again?" Stella asked, turning to her. Stella seemed to be the only one Winx to be available at the moment, and honestly she couldn't blame the absentees. Flora seemed a bit under the weather lately, Bloom and Aisha had some things going on in their kingdoms, and Tecna was stressed with her job beyond belief the last time she saw her. Everyone was busy with their lives, and that's fine. She tried convincing herself that.

"Coda and Sonia," she said, looking at the two. Coda was looking around curiously, bright blue eyes scanning the room. Sonia was sleeping next to her brother, sucking on a purple pacifier. "I just...really liked how it sounded, I guess."

Stella merely hummed, continuing to play around with a squealing Coda. "I know they're still babies and all but...aren't you glad they don't look like _him?_ Well, not yet, anyway," she cleared her throat to ease any tension that might arise. "They look like you had them with yourself!" She added eventually, wanting to be more lighthearted.

She didn't respond at first, and Stella was actually scared for a moment. "Huh, really...?" Well, she wasn't wrong. They both had dark blue, nearly black hair, pale skin (though Coda appeared to be tanner than his sister), and both blue eyes, though the last one she wasn't sure as Tecna once informed her that babies usually had blue eyes in the first few months they were born, before it changes to their intended color. One or both of them might have eyes of another color, though she had a hunch it was Sonia, was hers were a light crystal blue, completely unlike hers or Coda's.

And though they're still babies, she could already tell some features that belonged to _him_ that are slowly but surely surfacing, whether it was Coda's sharp nose or the specks of violet in Sonia's eyes. Also, who knows, some of his personality will seep out when they're older.

Fondly with a hint of bittersweet, she shook her head. Hopefully not.

Coda was an energetic kid, she knew as soon as he was born shrieking and squirming for twenty minutes straight. And so, when he accidentally knocked out out Sonia's pacifier from her mouth and onto the floor, she merely sighed, not surprised.

So, while Stella was cooing and trying to distract an almost fussing Sonia, Musa bent over and tried picking up the purple pacifier, but she soon found out that she wasn't the only one.

"Oh!" They both said at the same time, about to touch the pacifier, fingers barely brushing. She looked up and was greeted by bright violet eyes.

"Um, hello! I believe this is yours?" Asked the man, picking up the pacifier after she stared at him for more than two seconds. She didn't know why, but she was disappointed.

"Oh, right, thanks!" Stella was giggling behind her, she knew it. Her friends always did that when she meets or even comes across a new guy. The man merely smiled at her, it was small but sweet. He was of average weight and tall height, fair skinned, with shaggy and parted black hair that appeared a dark purple in certain light, and his eyes, god his eyes, they were a familiar violet, but they were softer compared to _his_ sharp ones.

"It's nothing," the man chuckled. He had a rather gentle demeanor, and for some reason, it was a breath of fresh air for her. "I'm Carl, nice to meet you...?"

"Musa," she smiled. She didn't know why...but she felt something about this man, she didn't know what that something was, but she hoped it was good. "My name is Musa."

Perhaps this is the start of something new.

* * *

...

It was a lazy morning, and Cody, Sony, and Ren had already gone to school by the time Riven had woken up. So no annoying brats pestering him in the morning, yay, he guessed?

"Eggs?" Flora offered as soon as he went in the kitchen. Helia was sitting and sipping on his coffee as he wrote something on some notepad that he didn't want Riven to see for some reason (and Riven tried looking at it, but eventually he gave up), Maylis was sitting in her high chair (are two year olds supposed to be in high chairs?) playing with her eggs, and Flora had been flipping some organic eggs in a pan with so much confidence and expertise that he had to wonder if there was an egg frying extreme sport that he didn't know about.

"Uh, sure," it seemed more peaceful without the kids, without Ren trying to ask him several questions under the sun, without Cody flinging food around, or Sony...well Sony doesn't really do anything that annoying kids do, but still it's peaceful, even if Maylis is making a mess with her eggs, he's going to give her a pass because she's a toddler.

Flora placed some eggs and bacon (where did that come from?) on Riven's plate and cleaned Maylis up. "So, any plans for today?"

"Not really...probably help in the shop or something," he said. Flora merely nodded and that made the room quite silent, leaving Riven in his thoughts. It was yesterday when Sonia showed him a photo of her...'mother', and that that 'mother' was Musa, his first love, girlfriend of several years, and...as much as he didn't want to admit it, still has a firm grip on his heart to this day, whether she knew this or not.

And instead of answers, more questions brewed in his mind, it started with a small root in the back of his mind and now it grew, branches upon branches of questions filling the recesses of his mind, begging to be answered.

Why?

Why didn't they tell him they were Musa's? Or, if they did plan to tell him, why wait long enough for the kids themselves to tell him? Did they think he would angry? Lash out? He wasn't that kind of guy anymore, he swore.

Why did Musa even have them in the first place? Sure, Musa didn't exactly have distaste for children, but she wasn't enthusiastic either. If she did have kids, it wouldn't be this soon. Unless...

What?

What did Sonia mean by not knowing much about Musa? Was she that absent from the twins' lives?

Where?

Where was Musa? Why were her kids here with Flora and Helia and not with her and...whoever the father (the damned bastard) was?

So many questions yet to be answered. Riven internally heaved a frustrated sigh and looked up at his friends. He noticed this recently but they both seemed a bit stiff around him, like watching their movements carefully, trying not to mess up. He looked around, the questions were beginning to be a bit overwhelming for him, like an irritating itch begging to be scratched.

Riven gulped, well, if he were to confront them, this would be a good as time as any, seeing as the kids (minus Maylis, but what does she know?) were not around.

He was going to do it.

Wait no-

"Hey...are you okay, Riven?" Helia asked hesitantly, finally looking up from his notepad after noticing Riven gripping his fork a bit too tightly, to the point where it bent.

"Where's Musa?" He just...blurted it out, his voice more accusing and nearly urgent as he intended it to be. His voice came out so suddenly that even he was surprised, and immediately shut his mouth.

Awkward silence ensues. Riven was about to say something like never mind when-

"We...don't know," Flora said quietly, loud enough for everyone to hear, but quiet enough to show that she didn't want to talk about.

What an unsatisfying answer. Riven thought as his word filter turned off for some reason and out came, "Bullshit-"

"No, really," said Helia, shaking his head. "We knew you'd ask this eventually...and we were afraid you would, because we don't have the answer."

Riven furrowed his brows, "but-"

"Please," Flora said, nearly desperate. "We don't want to talk about it."

He pursed his lips, and sighed. Maybe the answers shouldn't come too quickly...

"Okay."

* * *

...

"You are making this harder for yourself." He mused, "just tell me, darling. So we'll be complete, just you, me, and them."

He was pacing in front of her with his stupid fucking cloak and condescending smile. That bastard. The room was dark, yet the moon's light managed to seep through the cracks of the curtains, signalling that it was night.

"Fuck off."

He ignored her and instead turned to look at her. She merely glared at him, fists in bound wrists were clenched so hard they might as well bleed. She stopped struggling a long time ago, it was futile after all, but that didn't mean she will give in. Never a chance.

"That's not an appropriate language for a lady such as yourself." He stopped his pacing, before sharply turning to her. "Where are **_they_**?" He asked, his voice now dripping with poison. They were now face to face, his hand firmly and harshly holding her chin to prevent her from turning away.

"Like hell I'd fucking tell you," she spat, and literally spat on his face. He wiped his face and let go of her.

"Pfft, a stubborn woman as always," he said, walking towards the window and looking into it. "But...no matter. I'll find them, eventually, whether you like it or not."

* * *

 **A/N: I know I asked this before but is the pacing alright? I really don't know at this point.**

 **Umm so things happened, I guess.**

 **Uhhh this is it for today, feedback of any kind of welcome and fUCK I HAVE TO UPLOAD THIS QUICK-**


	7. melancholy hill

**A/N: Hello. It's been a while hasn't it. Ok so I wasn't updating these past few months because:**

 **a. I've kinda grown out of Winx :/ I'm not as into it as I used to and therefore it gives me less motivation to update.**

 **b. I've been focusing more on my art than on my writing**

 **c. (MOST IMPORTANT) my tablet finally lost its battle with time and broke. Good news is I got a new phone when it broke, bad news is that my notes and drafts for this story and several other stories were in that tablet and now it's all gone so basically I'm going to wing the story and several others from now on so if you notice inconsistencies then...you know why.**

 **ALSO: I changed Carl's name into Kai. I only named him Carl out of spite because an old friend was like 'the name carl is lame, don't name your character that' and I was like 'don't tell me what to do' and named him that. But looking back at it, it really is kinda lame :/ like no offense to the carls out there**

* * *

When _you can't get what you want, but you can get me  
So let's set out to sea_

 _'Cause you are my medicine, when you're close to me  
When you're close to me..._

 _-gorillaz_

* * *

 _..._

 _1 year and 8 months after_ _ **he**_ _left._

Kai was an amazing person. Enough said.

He's kind and sweet and really good with kids and has this really adorable smile-

Ah, you get her point.

He was just perfect.

At least, as perfect a person can get.

"One cold glass of lemonade for this lovely lady," he walked out of the kitchen with two glasses of lemonade, handing one to her with a wink and that charming smile of his. "And, one for me," he took a sip from his own glass, sitting down next to her. "Are you sure Sony and Cody won't like any?" he draped an arm over her shoulder and she couldn't help but...shiver.

Kai was a kind gentleman, gentle and sweet yet also boyish and playful, he was nothing like _him,_ but that didn't matter. Carl didn't have to be. He's fine the way he is, with his passion for music and his cute laugh.

She shrugged off that odd, somewhat ominous feeling. "Nah, they just ate. And besides, Cody will probably just spill it everywhere." She said jokingly...sort of. Cody was a messy kid, no doubt about that, she thought as she looked at her two children on the playpen in the corner of the room, before her gaze roamed around the room.

They were in Kai's apartment in downtown Magix, it was a rather small but cozy place, obviously just meant for one person. Furniture was simple and plain, barely anything personal, yet she could still tell what kind of person he was by simply looking around, from the old-timey acoustic guitar in the corner, a poster or two of bands and movies in place of paintings, a picture frame on the coffee table that was faced down...

Wait, what?

She hasn't noticed that before.

He gave a hearty chuckle, "Oh, of course," he said, his voice had a hint of fondness and, at the same time, sadness as his gaze lingered over to the two toddlers. Kai was surprisingly very fond of the twins, Sonia especially. Yet, every time he looked at them, he has this subtle air of sadness around him.

She knew exactly why.

Kai was not a man of secrets. Musa had wondered why a decent man like him would even glance at the direction of a young single mother of two, let alone date one, and he had revealed exactly why: he's actually very fond of children, as he had been a parent once.

Once.

Apparently, a few years back, he himself was a family man, a loving husband to a darling woman and a doting father of two very young children. But unfortunately, a great fire struck his hometown. "Everything I loved turned to ashes," he once mused sadly after revealing his wife and children had perished in the fire, leaving him with nothing and no one. It was only recently when he started to recover, moving away from his hometown to avoid the painful memories and ending up in Magix to start anew.

 _"Leaving everything he knew behind to start anew? That's...familiar."_ She found herself musing at the time.

Kai was about to say something until something from the kitchen rang. "Oh, it must be the tacos," Kai murmured, standing up. "I'll go get it, be right back!" With that, he left, briefly, anyway.

Musa looked back briefly to where Kai left, before leaning towards the table and grabbing the frame. What she saw nearly made her drop the fragile little frame.

It was a rather old photo, probably taken at a time where the photos weren't the clearest and weren't quite in the best quality. The old-ish photo wasn't what threw off Musa though.

In that photo were four people. Kai, with his cheeky grin and whatnot, holding a boy not older than two with short dark hair. Right next to him, however, was a woman holding a baby. Her hair was a long dark blue, skin pale and smooth, eyes a wide dark blue color.

It was like she was looking through a mirror.

"Musa?"

* * *

...

Riven tried prying more information from Flora and Helia, but they wouldn't budge, much to his frustration.

"We wish we knew." Helia had said after the umpteenth time Riven tried to ask, sighing. Flora had walked away in tears and in a hurry shortly before, covering her face as she stood with a shaky 'excuse me'. Riven couldn't help but feel bad at the moment, but he also felt angry and betrayed. Sure, he could sense some genuine truth from Helia's words, but regardless his bullshit detector was off the charts. Helia was definitely holding something back.

But what?

Well, whatever it is, why can't he just tell him?

Didn't they trust him? They've been friends for many years now. Is it because he's Musa's ex?

What did they think his reaction would be? Did they think he would lash out and rip off their heads or something? That he would laugh maniacally at hearing his ex's unfortunate fate? He's not a monster.

He's not like that at all. He's changed, or he thought so. Sure, previous attitude problems resurfaced from time to time but he remained lax so far, not a major outburst nor did he make anyone cry.

Ren likes him. Sonia sort of likes him. All the other kids don't feel threatened by him. Coda sort of dislikes him but that's the brat's own problem.

See, he never got truly angry at anything or anyone these past few weeks, he's decent with the kids, his personality hasn't clashed with Stella or Aisha or even god forbid, Bloom or Tecna (speaking of which, where has she been?).

They can trust him, right?

"Um, Riven? You okay there, buddy?" Brandon's voice tore through his thoughts like a concerned blade, bringing him back to reality. Riven blinked and snapped out of his internal monologue, finding himself facing a bright couple with their bright eyes and sun-kissed skin.

Stella and Brandon.

Oh, right. He forgot. The Solarian royals invited him for lunch in the palace, well they tried inviting the others as well but Aisha and Nex, along with Bloom and Sky apparently had some royal duties to attend to, Flora was in a PTA meeting (apparently Coda got into some trouble, he wasn't surprised for the brat) while Helia watched the shop, Timmy had to finish some assignments for work, and they couldn't reach Tecna for some reason.

So, after some convincing from Helia, "it'll be a great opportunity to find out what Stella and Brandon had been up to," the long-haired ex-Specialist said. "You should go. Don't mind me." And so he did, and here he is, sitting across from the golden couple in the Solarian royal dining room, fortunately for him, both Stella and Brandon were donned in casual attire and weren't in their boring monarch mode so they didn't mind him stuffing delicious and high-quality food in his mouth.

"Oh, yeah, I'm- I'm okay." Riven said as he swallowed quickly, feeling quite embarrassed. "Sorry."

Stella and Brandon looked at one another and they both chuckled. "No worries, dude," Brandon smiled, waving it off. "We know the food is great. That's Chef Apollo for you." Riven look at the couple and suddenly had an idea. If Flora and Helia wouldn't tell them anything, then maybe...

"Mom! Dad!" Two pairs of small shoes pitter-pattered across marble floors. Lou, with his sister Maddy closely following behind him, a piece of paper in his hands. Lou spotted Riven and started slowing his steps, and Maddy followed suit. "Robin?"

"It's Riven, Louis Elliot Alexiel D'Soleil." Stella corrected sharply to her son, citing his full name to create emphasis that she was serious. Both Brandon and Lou flinched. "Uncle Riven, to be exact. You must address him as Uncle Riven."

Tension rose unbearably high and Riven couldn't help but feel awkward. "H-hey, it's okay-"

"No," Stella cut him off. Whoa, he didn't expect Stella to be the stern parent, like, at all. "Louis needs to learn to respect his elders, isn't that right?"

The cheeriness that used to be emanating from the boy vanished and Louis hung his head in shame, nodding weakling. "Yes, mother..." Madison seemed to feel shame as well.

Brandon looked at Stella, then Louis, then Stella. "Stell-" before he could finish, another woman walked in the room, she looked older than the monarchs, probably in her early to mid 30's, her dress suggested she was a maid or a governess.

"Mariam!" Stella called out to the woman. "I thought Louis and Madison had lessons at this hour?"

The woman, Mariam, bowed her head down to the two highnesses before answering. "They were both finished with their worksheets, your highnesses, so I'd thought I'd lay off with the arithmetic and let them dabble creatively for today."

Stella bit her lip and huffed. "Seems reasonable enough. I'll let this pass. I trust you, Mariam, please don't let Louis and Madison roam around during their lessons, regardless of anything. Got it?"

"Very well, your highness," Mariam nodded and bowed her head once more before she started ushering the young royals out of the dining room. Madison kept her head low, while Louis gripped the piece of paper he was holding, gripping it hard to the point it crumpled. Riven couldn't help but take a look before the door closed.

It was a stickman family.

Jeez, now he felt really bad for the kid.

"Sorry about that," Brandon cleared his throat sometime after they left. Stella appeared to be in a sour mood.

"It's- it's okay," Riven said, raising a brow. "The Perfect Family of Solaria", he remembered headline of that one magazine he had his hands on a while back, and couldn't help but snort.

The perfect family, his ass.

Brandon whistled and tapped his foot as a vain attempt to ease tension. "So...Riven," he said, "how have you been?"

Riven shrugged. "Alright."

"That's great."

Stella looked down at her food. "I know why you came." She said straight up, cutting off the small talk. Riven raised a brow. "Musa. Right? You want to know where she is." It wasn't a question.

Riven was caught off guard but felt a bit satisfied. Finally, someone brought her up. "Yeah," he said, "I am so tired of being kept in the dark just because I'm her ex."

Stella and Brandon exchanged looks. "I'm going to be honest with you, bud," Brandon said, "you're not the only one being kept in the dark."

He was confused, "What do you-"

"We don't know what happened to her either," Brandon said, shaking his head. And unlike Helia, he seemed genuine. "One day, she was here, visiting us from time to time and all that. Then, she disappeared."

"But how-"

"We don't know, we don't know," Stella repeated, her shoulders seemingly shaking. Brandon held her as an attempt to comfort her. "We were- we were busy at the time, like really busy, as there was a revolt- well, there were revolts nearly on every kingdom and we were no exception- and we discouraged everyone from visiting us at the time, and maybe we just didn't notice. By the time the revolt ended, she was already gone, and everyone refused to tell us what happened- ESPECIALLY Flora, Helia, and Tecna. Like, 'okay Musa disappeared time to pretend she never existed ever and keep the rest of our friends in the dark'.

"But maybe it was for the best," Brandon said, "maybe they kept us in the dark for good reason."

Both Stella and Riven frowned, "Bullshit-"

"Flora and Helia get really upset whenever Musa gets brought up, and Tecna- on the other hand...she's- she's changed."

"What...what do you mean?"

Brandon leaned towards Riven to whisper something as if it was top secret. "Notice how she wasn't at the reunion thing? That's the thing. She barely ever goes out nowadays, always 'working on something' or whatever...and it really is affecting her marriage with Timmy, and not to mention Ada..."

Stella frowned. "She's hiding something, something big. Something that she's willing to hide from everyone including her husband and let it destroy their marriage. We've been meaning to come and give her a visit but we haven't had the time, and she always has these ridiculous excuses. If you really want to find out what really happened to Musa, then I'm pretty sure Tecna has some key information."

Riven thought about it. "Okay. Maybe I'll give her a visit."

* * *

 **A/N: Ok that's it for now. So sorry if the chapter is all over the place, it's been a really long time since I've written anything. Anyway, seeya.**


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